Dive Brief:

• Doherty Enterprises has bought 21 Applebee’s units in the New York area, bringing its total Applbee’s restaurant count to 104. The units were sold by Apple Metro, an Applebee’s franchisee, the company announced Thursday.
• The acquisition gives Doherty franchise expansion rights in the Five Boroughs of New York City and in Westchester County, the company wrote in an email to Restaurant Dive. Those territories have a combined population of at least 9.3 million, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. 
• Doherty’s CEO, Ed Doherty, described the acquisition as “a pivotal moment,” and that it was part of the company’s strategic growth efforts.

Dive Insight:

In 2022, Doherty experimented with delivery-only Applebee’s operations in Miami to counteract rising commercial rent and opened its own off-premise-only unit in Long Island in 2023. But the acquisition of Apple Metro’s units could signal an intent to develop more restaurants in high-cost, densely-populated and relatively high-income markets like New York and northern New Jersey. While New York City’s median household income is similar to that of the country at large — about $76,000 in 2022 compared to the national median of about $75,000 — both Manhattan and Westchester County have median household incomes well above average, at about $99,000 and $114,000, respectively. 

Doherty operates 160 restaurants in New York, New Jersey, Florida and Georgia, the bulk of which are franchised Applebee’s, Panera and Chevys Fresh Mex units. Doherty also owns two concepts, Shannon Rose Irish Pub and Spuntino Wine Bar, but those account for four of its units.

Apple Metro, according to the company’s LinkedIn page, operated about 29 Applebee’s as of 2020. In late 2022 the franchisee’s landlord sought to evict it from its flagship restaurant in Times Square over unpaid rent, Restaurant Business reported. To ensure continuity of operations, Doherty will offer jobs to the workers in the acquired restaurants, according to the press release.